Lin's Kids
by Firelordawesome
Summary: Lin's got a secret and Tenzin's just about to find out.
1. Chapter 1

Lin's Kids

Lin frowned as she watched as Tenzin peered his head out the window. He had been going on about how nice the day was—he was right, but she was annoyed, nonetheless.

"You don't need to be here," she said. Bolin had been entertaining himself with his little animal friend, that _fire ferret thingy_ , when he lost his footing and fell over, taking Lin down with him. She was fine, except for her ankle. Tenzin was concerned she had broken it, even though she could walk perfectly fine on it. To shut him up, she promised to get it checked out. Tenzin had insisted he accompany her to the hospital.

"I just want to make sure you're alright," he said calmly.

The doctor entered the room with a spring in his step. "Afternoon, Chief," he greeted. His eyes found Tenzin. Startled at first, he offered him a respectful nod. "And... Tenzin," he added quickly.

"Dr. Yang," said Tenzin awkwardly. Yang looked from Tenzin to Lin, an amused smile forming on his face. "How... how is your wife doing? Jia, was it?"

"Divorced," Yang said simply. "Didn't think I'd see you here again... after that nasty breakup."

"I didn't realize you were still Lin's doctor," Tenzin said with a sigh.

"I am, indeed. Speaking of which," he said, his complete focus on Lin now, "what brings you here today?"

"Her foot," said Tenzin. Lin looked aggravated he said it; she can speak for herself, Tenzin knew.

"Let's have a look then." He examined the foot carefully. It didn't even look like it had been hurt. "It's not broken. There might be some bruising, but I wouldn't worry about it." He let out a slight chuckle as he turned his attention to her chart. "Funny, when I saw Tenzin here, I thought you might be pregnant again."

Lin released a fierce cough in the hopes to drown out that last part.

Tenzin looked stunned. "P-pregnant," he said. She had never been pregnant, he had thought. They were always very careful in that area, Lin made sure of that. He shook his head, attempting to understand. "Wait... _again?_ "

Yang frowned, his eyes refusing to move from the papers before him. "This is why Jia divorced me. I can never shut up about these things," he managed to mumble.

"You were pregnant? With... with my baby, Lin?"

"So, the foot's not broken then, doc," said Lin, completely ignoring Tenzin. It was like he had left the room... or didn't even exist anymore, at this point.

Yang looked up. His eyes were focused on Tenzin, who looked about ready to faint. "Nope. Not broken."

When Lin stood, Tenzin took her place and sat down on the bed. "Did you... did you have a miscarriage?

"Thank you, Doctor," Lin said, shaking Yang's hand, making sure to squeeze it extra tight. " _Really_ , I do appreciate it." Yang wasn't sure, but he thinks he detects a bit of sarcasm coming from the chief. She made her way to leave, not waiting for Tenzin to follow her. But, before she left the room, she added, "I'm going home, Tenzin. You want to talk? Let's talk."


	2. Chapter 2

A million things ran through Tenzin's mind as he followed Lin inside her home. Pregnant? When in the spirits was Lin pregnant? And how did Tenzin not know about it? Surely she would have told him. There was that one time when Lin was eighteen, and he was nineteen, when she thought she was… but she wasn't. It—the baby—has to be his, right? There hasn't been anyone else, he doesn't think. Though, he doesn't really know about all her lovers after him. Perhaps there was someone. No... That's preposterous!

Pregnant. Lin had been pregnant. No, it wasn't true! It was just Dr. Yang being Dr. Yang… But, then again, suddenly he's remembering that one summer when she was away. She said her mother had gotten sick and he was stupid enough to believe her. He felt a lot of things right now: hurt, angry, all the stuff one feels when they find out they could possibly have another child in the world, but mostly he felt pain. Specifically, in his head. He had a major headache and just needed to sit down and sort all of this out.

He sat down at her table and began lightly massaging his head with his hands as Lin prepared some tea for them both. He really didn't want to mess around with the whole tea business—he just wanted her to talk to him. Though, tea might be the best thing for him now. He needs to calm down. He needs to relax, to be at peace. And, most importantly, he needs his head to stop hurting.

She stayed silent while preparing the tea and all Tenzin could think to do was look at her, his beautiful Lin, preparing their afternoon tea. It felt almost like he had gone back in time, back when they were still together, and she was still making his tea for him. He watched as she put honey in his cup and sugar in hers, just like old times. Spirits, he missed this.

Casually, she made her way to the table, placing the two tea cups down. Tenzin grabbed his and gulped it down immediately while Lin took her time, torturing him as she stirred her it with a spoon.

"Lin!" he said, ignoring the sharp pain in his head.

She looked at him, startled. Almost as if he had interrupted quiet tea time. "What?" By the tone in her voice, she was not bothered at all. Did she forget why he was here? Did she forget about Dr. Yang's little comment back at the hospital? No… no, of course not; she is merely only testing his patience and right now, it is outstandingly thin.

"Lin—Lin, please," he said desperately.

"What would you like to know?"

"You were pregnant?"

"Yes."

"With… with _my_ baby?"

She sipped her tea. "Yes."

His heart sank to his stomach and his head throbbed with pain. It was always abundantly clear that Lin did not want kids. Whenever he—or anyone, for that matter—would bring it up, she would always change the subject. Still, he stayed with her, hoping she might change her mind, perhaps soften with age.

"When?"

She sighed and turned to the window. He looked too. A teenage girl was trudging up Lin's driveway, holding a backpack. Was that their…? Was she…? And she was in Republic City this whole time? He turned back to Lin, tears of confusion in his eyes

"The summer after you dumped me," she said.

The front door opened and in came the girl. She whistled a sweet tune as she walked into the kitchen, but jumping at the sight of Lin and Tenzin.

"Spirits, mom!" she said, clutching her chest. "You nearly killed me." Recovering quickly, she walked to the fridge and pulled out a carton of milk and took a big swig of it. "I thought you said you were working late tonight," she said, wiping the milk off her face with the back of her hand.

"I was, but then I got hurt," said Lin, gesturing towards the big cast covering her foot and leg. Tenzin blinked in confusion, a tear drop sliding down his face. A cast, he questioned to himself. He didn't remember Dr. Yang ever putting a cast on her leg.

"Shit, mom, are you okay?"

"Yeah, nothing to worry about. Dr. Yang said it was fine. Just slight bruising."

"Oh, cool." The girl sighed in relief. Her eyes then went to Tenzin. "Who's the bald dude?"

"Lian, meet your father," said Lin.

Lian… Tenzin had mentioned that name to Lin long ago. He honestly didn't think she was listening. Back when he still had hope they would have kids one day, he had set the name aside for their daughter. And Liko for their son. He didn't dare give those names to Pema; no, those names were only for Lin's ears to hear.

He stood and held out an unsteady hand for his newly-discovered daughter to shake. "H-hello," he greeted nervously.

Lian smiled. Ignoring Tenzin, she turned to her mother. "So, now you're ready to tell us about our dad?"

 _"Us?"_ questioned Tenzin.

"Yeah, only because he found out," said Lin stubbornly. "It's not like I wanted this to happen!"

The door opened again and in came two other teenage girls.

"We're home!" exclaimed one.

"You better of not have drunken all the milk, Lian!" said the other.

"Poppy! Toph! Get over here," shouted Lian. "Come meet our daddy!"

"Triplets?" said Tenzin, stunned, as the two girls came into the kitchen. Two of them looked exactly like Lin did when she was a teenager. The other one looked like Lin's mother, Toph, blind and everything. He rubbed his head, wishing the pain would stop for just a few moments so his brain could process everything that was happening.

"Quintuplets," said Lin casually. "Liko and Xun are at their after school jobs."

 _"Quintuplets!"_ said Tenzin, ready to faint.

Neither of his daughters seemed too eager to introduce themselves to Tenzin. They didn't seem interested in Tenzin at all. They were busy teasing Lin about not telling them who their father was. They weren't even mad at her. But Tenzin was. He had more children—quintuplets of all things—and Lin didn't think to tell him?

"Wait a minute," interrupted Tenzin, "you had our… _quintuplets_ the summer after we broke up? That means you were a couple months pregnant when we did break up. Why... didn't you tell me?"

"I was going to tell you, but then you, you know, broke my heart into a million pieces and left me for some child."

Tenzin frowned, his anger momentarily leaving him. "Oh, Lin… I'm—"

His vision suddenly became blurry and Lin and his three daughters were nothing but blobs to him now. The pain on his forehead suddenly had a cool relief on it. He felt chilled as the image of Lin and his daughters was quickly fading away.

"You okay there, daddy-o," he heard one of his daughter's say, though it was distant.

"W-what?" said Tenzin.

"I said," said Dr. Yang's voice clearly, "you okay there, daddy-o?"

Tenzin opened his eyes. Dr. Yang's foolish face was smiling down at him. "What… what happened?" He sat up quickly, the ice-pack on his head falling down onto the hospital bed and groaned at the pain it caused. He grabbed the ice pack on the bed and placed it back on his head, leaning back.

"You took a little nap. Hit your head on the tile floor pretty hard," said Dr. Yang. "It's fine. Happens to so many new fathers here, I can't even count."

"Where—where's Lin?"

"Still here," said Lin. This time it was Lin peering out the hospital window. It had gotten quite dark and nasty outside since Tenzin had last looked. Not at all like the sunny weather from before. "Dr. Yang, could you excuse us for a moment?"

Dr. Yang nodded and quickly left the room.

Lin turned away from the window and faced Tenzin and let out a deep sigh, a look of worry in her face. They had a long night ahead of them, Tenzin knew, but he was ready for it.

* * *

 **I wasn't planning on making this into a chapter fic, because I really didn't have any idea where to take it, but this absurd idea came to my head. So, hope you guys enjoyed!**


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